The Beekeeping Prespective

In early spring we usually perform our first full in-depth inspection of the year. Blooming  just started the weather is mild, stable and perfect for finally opening the colonies properly after winter. What we find inside is exactly what every beekeeper hopes to see in early spring: strong expanding colonies, beautiful brood patterns and healthy populations already moving confidently into the new season. What is surprisingb though is this: There are no large pollen reserves stored inside most of the hives. Very little, actually are present. Almost everything that's coming into the colony now is being consumed immediately rather than stored. And yet the brood nests are booming. This is important because every spring, advice floods through the beekeeping world telling people they must feed artificial pollen patties early in the season to “help the bees raise brood.”But the reality is far more nuanced than that. In many cases, especially during the first early brood cycles...

The central idea behind the Condensing Hive is to artificially replicate the manner by which wild bees maintain the level of moisture and insulate their environments.  Moisture is natural Basically, in order to understand this, it is helpful to look at how bees act in their natural habitat and how their ambient affects the way they manage humidity and heat inside the hive. The production of moisture by the bees themselves is part of their everyday routine. Much like humans, exhaling moisture from their body produces water vapor through respiration and digestion, making the hive environment more humid. However, the water droplets actually originate from the inside of the hive.  Warm, humid air rises from the beehive cluster, colliding with the cooler hive structure. Bees snuggle up next to each other to stay warm during winter. Rather than generating enough warmth for the hive and all of the contents, they prefer to focus on warming their individual bodily stru...